Combat any good?

[RausmitdeViecher]

From what i have seen in the trailers the combat looks really bad.

[Tenoshii]

Depends on the criteria you use to identify "good" combat.

[zargo_zore]

Some people give the combat system flak but honestly it looks and feels like old 2000s combat games like Rune Viking Warlord and I'm totally ok with that. I think it's awesome. It's fun but not over complicated or taking itself too seriously.

[Ocean Rain]

It sucks. I mentioning melee combat. It is very basic and unsatisfying.

[Yhtill]

I didn't play it but it reminded me of Conan Exiles enough that I was OK with that idea. It was a far cry from MMO-type twitch combat but that's not an issue for me.

[Kaziklu78]

The combat was fine. It wasn't designed to make you feel like a total bad ass. It was designed to make things feel dangerous. The Animations need some work but they aren't bad. They were designed with First Person in mind. Not having the ability to test this, I've heard that the mobs have weak points. Like the head. That hitting the weak point does more damage. I noticed head shots with a rifle sometimes did 3+ times more damage than a body shot. The Axe too seemed to do more damage. This means that aiming your shot does more damage then not.

The combat has some depth, particularly when combined with enchantments. I didn't get enough time to really learn it but had no major issues with it.

The least satisfying thing is the blocking animation honestly. Beyond that it felt like I was a middle class Victorian that is trying to use a wood axe on a BDSM gimp that doesn't understand consent.

I think combat needs some work to feel a little more impactful... but over all it didn't feel bad. (it felt better than the about 50% of the changes to Conan Exiles combat over the years)

[Malcador, The Sigillite]

Originally posted by Kaziklu78:

The combat was fine. It wasn't designed to make you feel like a total bad ass. It was designed to make things feel dangerous. The Animations need some work but they aren't bad. They were designed with First Person in mind. Not having the ability to test this, I've heard that the mobs have weak points. Like the head. That hitting the weak point does more damage. I noticed head shots with a rifle sometimes did 3+ times more damage than a body shot. The Axe too seemed to do more damage. This means that aiming your shot does more damage then not.

The combat has some depth, particularly when combined with enchantments. I didn't get enough time to really learn it but had no major issues with it.

The least satisfying thing is the blocking animation honestly. Beyond that it felt like I was a middle class Victorian that is trying to use a wood axe on a BDSM gimp that doesn't understand consent.

I think combat needs some work to feel a little more impactful... but over all it didn't feel bad. (it felt better than the about 50% of the changes to Conan Exiles combat over the years)

I completely agree with this. People seem to think 'flashy attacks' = good combat. But if you know anything about fighting those kinds of attacks are stupid and cringy. They could do with polishing things and providing a slightly better feedback on hits while fixing the meh blocking. I really wonder what people who hated the combat really think should be done. They seem to just use buzzwords like 'floaty' without actually thinking about it.

Please, combat haters write me a strongly worded, and thought out, reply on what exactly was wrong with the combat and what you think should be added. And please, explain what you mean by your buzzwords. 'Floaty' means next to nothing.

[Panic Fire]

Originally posted by Malcador, The Sigillite:

Originally posted by Kaziklu78:

The combat was fine. It wasn't designed to make you feel like a total bad ass. It was designed to make things feel dangerous. The Animations need some work but they aren't bad. They were designed with First Person in mind. Not having the ability to test this, I've heard that the mobs have weak points. Like the head. That hitting the weak point does more damage. I noticed head shots with a rifle sometimes did 3+ times more damage than a body shot. The Axe too seemed to do more damage. This means that aiming your shot does more damage then not.

The combat has some depth, particularly when combined with enchantments. I didn't get enough time to really learn it but had no major issues with it.

The least satisfying thing is the blocking animation honestly. Beyond that it felt like I was a middle class Victorian that is trying to use a wood axe on a BDSM gimp that doesn't understand consent.

I think combat needs some work to feel a little more impactful... but over all it didn't feel bad. (it felt better than the about 50% of the changes to Conan Exiles combat over the years)

I completely agree with this. People seem to think 'flashy attacks' = good combat. But if you know anything about fighting those kinds of attacks are stupid and cringy. They could do with polishing things and providing a slightly better feedback on hits while fixing the meh blocking. I really wonder what people who hated the combat really think should be done. They seem to just use buzzwords like 'floaty' without actually thinking about it.

Please, combat haters write me a strongly worded, and thought out, reply on what exactly was wrong with the combat and what you think should be added. And please, explain what you mean by your buzzwords. 'Floaty' means next to nothing.

Floaty refers to combat that lacks feedback and commitment. Where your character isn't really part of the world but a piece you move over top of the world.

There is no commitment to movement, attacks, spells, ect.

Games like Darksouls for instance your character feels like they are part of the world. Your movement and attacks have feel to them. This is in part due to commiting to attack animations, as well as good sound design and visual feed back.

Nightinggale has ok combat but it is with out a doubt floaty and needs serious polish to lose that floaty feel. Enemies lack dmg visualization, hit visualtion, hit sound work. While enemy movement animation is fairly good there hit and dmg animations are not so much. The player character doesn't feel grounded to the game world. Call of Duty for instance does lots of work to make the player feel grounded or part of the game world. A good and slightly funny example is the old level transitions of moving through some debre to progress. A classic but helps grounds the character into the world. Players actively effecting objects in the world. Grass parting or getting matted. Players shielding there face from rain. Even those old "hold f" to open the door things do help ground the player in the world. They can be done in a bad way or a good way, buts its a culmination of all these little things that helps paint a picture of your character being in the game vs your character being on top of the game.

Floaty doesn't have a set definition its more of a feeling of disconnect from the player characters attachment to the game world. At the most extreme level a floaty game feels like the character isn't moving and the game world is just moving around them instead.


Nightingale's combat isn't great. Its ok. But it definitly has lots of room for improvement. It is however important that it does get attention and addressed because it is one of the core mechanics of a survival game.

[Malcador, The Sigillite]

Originally posted by Panic Fire:

Originally posted by Malcador, The Sigillite:

I completely agree with this. People seem to think 'flashy attacks' = good combat. But if you know anything about fighting those kinds of attacks are stupid and cringy. They could do with polishing things and providing a slightly better feedback on hits while fixing the meh blocking. I really wonder what people who hated the combat really think should be done. They seem to just use buzzwords like 'floaty' without actually thinking about it.

Please, combat haters write me a strongly worded, and thought out, reply on what exactly was wrong with the combat and what you think should be added. And please, explain what you mean by your buzzwords. 'Floaty' means next to nothing.

Floaty refers to combat that lacks feedback and commitment. Where your character isn't really part of the world but a piece you move over top of the world.

There is no commitment to movement, attacks, spells, ect.

Games like Darksouls for instance your character feels like they are part of the world. Your movement and attacks have feel to them. This is in part due to commiting to attack animations, as well as good sound design and visual feed back.

Nightinggale has ok combat but it is with out a doubt floaty and needs serious polish to lose that floaty feel. Enemies lack dmg visualization, hit visualtion, hit sound work. While enemy movement animation is fairly good there hit and dmg animations are not so much. The player character doesn't feel grounded to the game world. Call of Duty for instance does lots of work to make the player feel grounded or part of the game world. A good and slightly funny example is the old level transitions of moving through some debre to progress. A classic but helps grounds the character into the world. Players actively effecting objects in the world. Grass parting or getting matted. Players shielding there face from rain. Even those old "hold f" to open the door things do help ground the player in the world. They can be done in a bad way or a good way, buts its a culmination of all these little things that helps paint a picture of your character being in the game vs your character being on top of the game.

Floaty doesn't have a set definition its more of a feeling of disconnect from the player characters attachment to the game world. At the most extreme level a floaty game feels like the character isn't moving and the game world is just moving around them instead.


Nightingale's combat isn't great. Its ok. But it definitly has lots of room for improvement. It is however important that it does get attention and addressed because it is one of the core mechanics of a survival game.

Overall quite a good take on the combat. I do think the enemies need to be a bit more responsive to taking damage, maybe a bit of a stagger if you get a headshot. When fighting a group I would basically swing like its Vermintide, which might not be the best when it comes to a game like Nightingale.

I would still put it above other games in the genre that use the same engine. Haven't played Palworld so I can't speak on that. But the combat is leagues better than Ark, and I personally prefer it to Conan Exiles. Though you are right. Best to not get complacent in how good the combat is because its mostly a tuning thing to improve it.

If I was to recommend specifics on what should be changed to make the combat better. A bit of work on the impact sounds for body shots, have them sound a little more like you are smacking the type of thing you are smacking. An increase to staggers from headshots on creatures your size. Baking in footwork into some of the attack animations and having them play on the full body and not just the upper body. After that, wait and see if those changes are enough, or what of it needs a bit of extra tweaking.

[Rave Jesus]

I for the life of me cannot figure out why people are saying the combat looks bad. I played the Stress Test and the combat (At least on my machine and my internet) felt impactful. Smacking the hell out of enemies with melee felt great, especially when they toppled over or stumbled.

Then again, I'm used to things 7 Days to Die and early ARK where hitting something was akin to watching the health bar go down to make sure it was actually registering.

[Tenoshii]

Originally posted by Rave Jesus:

I for the life of me cannot figure out why people are saying the combat looks bad. I played the Stress Test and the combat (At least on my machine and my internet) felt impactful. Smacking the hell out of enemies with melee felt great, especially when they toppled over or stumbled.

I'm in the same boat. Watching the bound get slapped around by melee tool/weapon hits looked a lot more impactful than what I'm used to in the average game in this genre.

[TotallyUncool]

Originally posted by Panic Fire:

Originally posted by Malcador, The Sigillite:

I completely agree with this. People seem to think 'flashy attacks' = good combat. But if you know anything about fighting those kinds of attacks are stupid and cringy. They could do with polishing things and providing a slightly better feedback on hits while fixing the meh blocking. I really wonder what people who hated the combat really think should be done. They seem to just use buzzwords like 'floaty' without actually thinking about it.

Please, combat haters write me a strongly worded, and thought out, reply on what exactly was wrong with the combat and what you think should be added. And please, explain what you mean by your buzzwords. 'Floaty' means next to nothing.

Floaty refers to combat that lacks feedback and commitment. Where your character isn't really part of the world but a piece you move over top of the world.

There is no commitment to movement, attacks, spells, ect.

Games like Darksouls for instance your character feels like they are part of the world. Your movement and attacks have feel to them. This is in part due to commiting to attack animations, as well as good sound design and visual feed back.

Nightinggale has ok combat but it is with out a doubt floaty and needs serious polish to lose that floaty feel. Enemies lack dmg visualization, hit visualtion, hit sound work. While enemy movement animation is fairly good there hit and dmg animations are not so much. The player character doesn't feel grounded to the game world. Call of Duty for instance does lots of work to make the player feel grounded or part of the game world. A good and slightly funny example is the old level transitions of moving through some debre to progress. A classic but helps grounds the character into the world. Players actively effecting objects in the world. Grass parting or getting matted. Players shielding there face from rain. Even those old "hold f" to open the door things do help ground the player in the world. They can be done in a bad way or a good way, buts its a culmination of all these little things that helps paint a picture of your character being in the game vs your character being on top of the game.

Floaty doesn't have a set definition its more of a feeling of disconnect from the player characters attachment to the game world. At the most extreme level a floaty game feels like the character isn't moving and the game world is just moving around them instead.


Nightingale's combat isn't great. Its ok. But it definitly has lots of room for improvement. It is however important that it does get attention and addressed because it is one of the core mechanics of a survival game.

I played in the stress test and I agree with what's written about the combat in Nightingale. It's okay but it needs work. I also felt that the enemy-/creature AI need to track the player properly (you shouldn't be able to just walk to the side of a wolf while it's doing its threatening animation and the wolf losing the sight of you somehow), which would make the combat feel more immersive. With the AI losing track of the player so easily it makes the enemy feel less like a living, breathing creature and more like what it actually is; a game asset. It also makes the combat appear more slow and clunky.

Since combat is such a big part of Nightingale and the current endgame activites are centered around it with Apex Hunts and Vaults, it needs to feel and look better. Hopefully, it'll be something they improve a lot during early access.

Not hating the combat but it needs a lot of work.

And yes, I'm getting Nightingale when it drops in early access despite my critiques regarding the combat.

[Yhtill]

From watching the vids, it seemed like ranged (a combat style I am fond of), could use some work. Have to test it from the ground up. Shotgun seemed to have range issues as it should (people being puzzled by that were amusing) but even close in, didn't seem to be doing the damage it should.
Big Badda Boom close up.
Time will tell.

[TotallyUncool]

Originally posted by Yhtill:

From watching the vids, it seemed like ranged (a combat style I am fond of), could use some work. Have to test it from the ground up. Shotgun seemed to have range issues as it should (people being puzzled by that were amusing) but even close in, didn't seem to be doing the damage it should.
Big Badda Boom close up.
Time will tell.

My experience with the stress test was that ranged weapons felt very anemic compared to the melee ones. Some shots that felt like they should've landed just didn't. Could've been something server related for all I know though.

[[Wahr] Eogard]

Combat was, by far, the worst part of the technical playtest. Terrible even. The enemy attacked the air, most of the time they weren't even going in your direction. The blocking felt very bad, the enemy melee attack animation was going through it and there was no feedback about blocking. Vervy underwhelming and I imagine this is going to be the game biggest issue during the entire early access phase.

[oldagetron]

Originally posted by RausmitdeViecher:

From what i have seen in the trailers the combat looks really bad.

seems super easy what ive seen.